Dr. Shannon M. Oltmann is a library and information science scholar, focusing on intellectual freedom, censorship, privacy, freedom of speech, and information precarity. Dr. Oltmann is the Associate Dean and Director of the School of Information Sciences at Wayne State University, where she is a full professor. 

 

Her work is mostly qualitative, examining how and why civil liberties such as freedom of speech become curtailed or enhanced. Often, her research examines how librarians and others interpret censorship and intellectual freedom. Much of her work has focused on public libraries, but Dr. Oltmann has also studied government agencies, art galleries, social media platforms, public court records, and other types of libraries. Another stream of work investigates information precarity, a lack of information and resources brought about by systemic marginalization. 

 

Oltmann has won several awards, including the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award, the Oboler Memorial Award, the Kentucky Intellectual Freedom Award, the Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Public Research, and the McJulien Scholar Award.

 

Dr. Oltmann earned her Ph.D. in information science from Indiana University. Her dissertation studied restricted access to science policy from federal agencies. Oltmann's Masters Degree is also from Indiana University, and her B.A. is from DePauw University.